EYLIS ※ Tony Stark [3]

7 - LOOK AGAIN

"That dream was not a dream at all, actually. It's a memory."

⁂

"A MEMORY?!" Angie repeated wide-eyed "What do you mean?!"

Wanda shifted in her seat "As in, what you see in that dream has already happened. It's part of your past."

"I know what a memory is," Angie hissed "I'm saying it can't possibly be from my past. I don't remember any of this."

"Then you must've repressed it," Wanda dropped on a confidential tone "It's common after traumatic events."

"Traumatic events...?!" Angie couldn't tell if she'd gone insane or if Wanda had "What the... what are you saying?! You think I wouldn't remember having a child?!"

The other woman paused looking bewildered "Wait... you think you're the mother in the memory?"

"Well, aren't I?!"

"No..." Wanda shook her head categorically "Look again."

And with that, the Scarlet Witch launched a ray of red glow at Angie, sending her mind right back into the past.

This time, Angie saw everything as clearly as if she was really there. The brightly lit hall with high, ivory white walls. The group of five warriors walking in. The woman in the middle, in such bad shape that she had to be supported by two of her companions. They couldn't see her but Angie could see each and every one of them distinctly.

It was only when she mustered the courage to face the dark-haired woman with eyes that resembled so much her own that a feeling of dread began to spread through her stomach.

The same jet black hair. The same striking blue eyes. The same face shape. The same height... but no, that woman was not her at all.

Doors burst open in the distance and a young child ran in as fast as her little legs could carry her. Angie took a step back, watching the scene unfold as she'd always seen it, but in a clarity that frightened her.

She looked upon the little girl's face and suddenly, everything fell into place.

When Wanda brought her back, it felt like she was being pulled out of water. She panted, arms resting against her knees, feeling rattled to the bone.

"See..." Wanda said gently "You are the child. This is your memory."

Angie looked up slowly to meet her gaze, her ears were still buzzing "That woman... is she my mother?"

"It seems like it."

Angie's breath got caught in her throat. This revelation had so many implications that could not be seen on the surface. If she believed what Wanda was telling her, then what little she knew of her mother — what little Himnir had told her about Eylis — was not completely true.

"That's... impossible," Angie tried to argue but didn't sound convincing even to herself "My mother was never a warrior. She died of an illness!"

It wasn't often that Himnir mentioned Angie's mother. Angie had given up trying to learn anything about her quite quickly since Himnir fell into a spectacularly sour mood whenever she dared to ask. The rare times he gave anything away was to tell her how much of a weakling her mother had been.

Angie was young when Eylis died but she had been old enough to remember a few things. Just a few little snippets to hold on to when Himnir got tough on her — which, she came to realize, was all the time. She remembered just enough to forge a distant, blurry image of this mother who'd only ever been a ghost in her life.